On this occasion the Sole was out relaxing in the Hidden Ravine. With the summer drawing to a close he had gone to seek the comforts of a mossy rock and soak in the sun while the few precious moments allowed. Soon enough the leaves would begin to fall and the snow would return, bringing with it cold nights and many dangers. They were fortunate this year to have no pups to watch, pups who would and could find trouble around every corner as his children and grandchildren had in the past.

With the sun beating down on his dark fur from high in the sky Jazper let out a sigh of content. He had begun to sort out his personal affairs bit by bit, and was even socializing readily once again. Heck he had taken his horse out for a few rides since the end of the summer had started drawing near. The Sole was beginning to focus on a new chapter in his life, one where he apologized to those he had done wrong by and made relationships with those he had skimmed over in the past, and it had all started with a simply sorry to Esmeralda.

But all that was about to change once again as a very familiar howl bid him to his feat and jogging towards the boarder that marked the closest distance between Casa land and d’Arte claim. He had only seem Skye earlier in the season when she had graciously offered to ship some Casa representatives to Vinatta for the party, an event that seemed only yesterday to the middle aged Alpha. Two feet slowed to a halt before the ginger haired wolfess he shared an alliance and children with, a smile large on his naive face. “Skye it’s great to –“ His words were cut short as golden eyes spotted the light grey bundle tucked into it’s mother’s arms.

No words formed in Jazper’s throat as he stared at the little pup, that had to be less than a month old. It was such a tiny creature yet it’s very being had the giant stunned into silence and his mind in shock and his heart pumping faster than before.

OOC: Drama llama. 300+ words

Golden eyes shifted through various emotions, his original shocks subsided as he watched the tiny figure breath, his own body beginning to breath in unison as though if the pup were to stop breathing he would be left in a world of panic and subsequently die. It was not out of care that he breathed along with the little one but out of necessity. He could already feel his shock turning to heat that moved up from the tips of his toes and slowly crawled like a sludgy monster up unto his chest. It was only the constant focus and breathing that kept him silent and moderately calm.

He was not angry at the pup, it was but a helpless ball of fluff that was unable to do anything but sleep and eat, and this was Jazper after all. Although he was a warrior the Knight Father adored romping around with the little ones and telling fairy tales and battle stories. The sound of Skye’s voice broke his focus, his sun kissed face lifting up to meet her pumpkin eyes. Of course he had questions, all of which started with ‘how could you’ but he bit his tongue. His brown frowned as he started to notice Skye for the first time as she was in the present moment. There were new scars forming that had to be recent, still plump and red as they began to heal. “Who’s the father and was it on purpose?” He asked simply, his voice uneven as he continued to focus on his breath.

OOC: 200+ words

He could sense Skye’s agitation at him and he knew very well how selfish he was being but could not care less as the sludge of anger continued to boil upwards. Skye had always been the only female he would ever think about in a romantic sense since Alyssum abandoned him. The one night they had shared together had been magical and so easy but they both knew they could not really be together. As leader’s they were expected to lead by example and to Jazper that had meant taking on a mate within the pack and having pups for the future of the pack. He loved Ares and Esmeralda deeply, as much as he did Anna or Alex and Valerie, but he fully believed that Skye would understand that they could not be mates.

Despite this fact the Sun King still cared deeply for the cream lady, though he did not understand to what extent, and the sight of her with another’s child made him angry. She did not provide him with a name but for a moment he was calmed, a member of her pack, perhaps she had taken a mate? Unfortunately this was not the case. At the blunt and honest no the Sole grew visibly more agitated. “A name. I asked for a name.” He growled quietly. If this male had taken from Skye without permission Fenris forbid he was going to hunt him down and tear out his throat. A mate he would forgive but a consent-less encounter left Jazper seething.

OOC: 200+ words

Her silence spoke louder than any words could and all Jazper could do was stare her down, his own golden eyes thinning into a rage filled glare and his canine teeth were flashed to her between twitched of his upper lip. “Drunk!” he exclaimed in a hushed but pointed growl. “Why the fuck were you drinking alone with another man?” He hissed at her, taking a step forward in an aggressive manner. He would never raise a claw or actually harm the lady before him, but his emotional distress had him believing he had to win the silent body language war. It was true that Jazper held no claim to Skye but in his mind they were partners, if not of the romantic kind or the friend kind. They were suppose to come to each other about their problems and share their concerns with each other. “Why would you not come to me?”

To the Knight this was a betrayal of the heart. He proudly told others of their alliance with the artists and traders, who had grown so much in the past year and yet he felt as though Skye did not care for him the way he did for her and her pack. He would be at their borders in a second should she need a friend in a fight or an extra pair of hands to build. Now he wondered if Skye could not share her emotional worries with him and drink with him as a friend, if she was capable of aiding him the same way.

OOC: 200+ words

Skye’s own dominate stance did nothing but agitate the giant more. There was no way that the more feral leader would dare display more dominance than her current state on Casa borders with the Knight already on the edge of a fit, she was not a stupid women. His tail twitched back and forth in annoyance and frustration at the women in front of him. What then hell was he suppose to say? That he forgave her in an instant? No. He did not. Though he understood how wild a pack party could get, he himself had nearly beaten up a few in the past for words spoken in slurred tongue thanks to drinks and he had.

Another instance in his life almost reflected Skye’s situation directly, he had gotten Ghita pregnant while they had been drunk. However in that instance he had taken responsibility for her and the unborn children, proposing to her a mateship on the spot. If it hadn’t been for him making Casa and her going back to Italy they would probably still be together. Although his track sheet of ladies to the public eye looked rough the fact was that Jazper had been loyal to every mate until the end, only sleeping with others while he had been single and without an oath of loyalty to one canine.

“Are you going to take him as a mate a raise the child. It should be his honor and duty to do so.” He pointed out in an agitated tone. “If he’s one of your pack he should have proposed mateship to you before the pup was born.” To the Knight he had never had the option to be in an official mateship with the d’Arte leader and had they been of the same pack he would have became her mate, should she have taken him, as soon as the pups became a lump in her belly. It was pure unfortunate circumstance that had led the two leaders out of duty to care for their pack above pursuing a family relationship with each other.

OOC: 300+ words

Anger shifted to irritation in Skye’s eyes and body language, confusing the Sole briefly. Then she spoke those words and relief spread through his body. She didn’t want this other man to be hers, she wasn’t going to be someone else’s. Even as he thought that though Skye’s temperament became more outward, her words sticking him like a whip as he processed the words. His relaxed gaze immediately snapped into a glare and a warning snarl echoed loudly out of his muzzle.

“I am better than him.” He roared at the smaller leader who was now only a few feet away from him. “When Ghita got pregnant in the same manner we became mates and I cared for her and our children until she left me. You know damn well that if we were in the same pack and didn’t have two packs to care for I would have asked you to be mine the second you found out your were pregnant.” Trying to calm himself he began to breathe again, focusing on each movement of his diaphragm and lungs. “Our duties are to our packs Skye and if you think for one moment that I am as irresponsible as this other man then you can go back to him and your artists.” With that final line he turned, his anger getting the better of him and bidding him to walk away from the situation.

OOC: 300+ words